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Chapter 20
“Know her? How? She doesn’t even have any experience.”
“Just once. I happened to see her. We’re basically strangers.”
Calling them acquaintances was a stretch.
She was merely the neighbor kid of his cousin.
Still, Bae Seonyeok found it oddly surprising that he remembered the girl so clearly despite having seen her only once.
“That’s strange… I remember thinking she kept drawing my attention somehow. And yet you’re the one who managed to discover her.”
“She drew your attention?”
Ham Gyeong-seok, who had been responding absentmindedly until now, raised an eyebrow.
Even his tone changed.
Faced with his senior’s intent gaze, Seonyeok asked in confusion:
“Yeah. Why?”
“You said she drew your attention. Somehow.”
“Why does that matter— Ah…”
Bae Seonyeok stared at him in disbelief.
If he hadn’t known just how exceptional Ham Gyeong-seok’s talent was—or if he didn’t know the man hated jokes—he would’ve thought he was talking complete nonsense.
“Sunbae. Come on. You said she doesn’t even have any experience.”
“I didn’t say anything. You’re the one who said she drew your attention. And isn’t this the first time you’ve ever said that? After rejecting hundreds of kids.”
Despite Ham Gyeong-seok’s calm words, Seonyeok’s discomfort didn’t disappear.
But…
It’s true.
For more than a year, from last year until now, Bae Seonyeok had been searching for a child of destiny.
Yet the search had only become more hopeless with time.
Everyone looked ordinary.
He’d even begun to feel bored.
But…
Yes.
The only child who had left a truly distinct impression on him had probably been that girl.
He had simply never viewed her from this perspective before.
The confusion gradually faded from Seonyeok’s face.
After a long silence, he removed his baseball cap and sat back down on the sofa.
“Rewind it. From the beginning.”
“Good. Look over here. Great.”
“Can you introduce yourself? Start with your name.”
“My name is Seo Singa.”
“Singa. That’s a beautiful name. What does it mean?”
“It’s the Singa from the novel Who Ate Up All the Singa? My dad got it from the title of that book. He said he hadn’t read enough books to find a prettier name. It means a wild field plant.”
“You don’t look much like a wild plant.”
“I know. I’m more of a flower than grass.”
The little girl smiled shyly while lifting her chin with a hint of pride.
Laughter erupted from the adults behind the camera.
Seonyeok pressed rewind.
“I know. I’m more of a flower than grass.”
He pressed it again.
And again.
“My name is Seo Singa.”
“I know. I’m more of a flower than grass.”
“…Hyung. You know how important this project is to Director Haemun and me.”
Director Haemun had personally gone to France and spent years there just to secure the adaptation rights.
He had only finally succeeded this year.
Bae Seonyeok had debuted with him.
Their relationship ran deep.
Several years ago, he had gotten the chance to read the screenplay by accident.
The moment he finished reading it, he was captivated.
After endless persuasion and persistence, he finally secured the role of the male lead.
Now only one role remained.
The female lead.
The true protagonist of the story.
Director Haemun had always said:
Until I find the right protagonist, I won’t take this script out.
I don’t care if I have to wait years. I won’t start it half-heartedly.
If he never found the right person, he was prepared to abandon the screenplay entirely.
Knowing how stubborn and uncompromising the director was, Seonyeok had become increasingly desperate.
Which was why he had started searching personally.
“I know. I didn’t recommend her or anything. Like I said, that kid has zero experience. I’d bet she can’t even memorize a single line of dialogue.”
Ham Gyeong-seok murmured almost to himself.
“I merely showed you one thing.”
“How she looks through a camera.”
“……”
Seonyeok stared at the director seriously.
Had Ham Gyeong-seok really not been implying anything?
Among the few people who knew about the screenplay, Ham Gyeong-seok was one of them.
And Seonyeok didn’t believe it was a coincidence that the director happened to be playing this tape during one of his regular visits.
Maybe he would have believed that at first.
Not anymore.
There were no coincidences in this industry.
Ham Gyeong-seok may have fallen from grace.
But his ambition remained alive.
And besides…
His eyes were real.
“…If she can’t memorize lines, then we’ll teach her.”
“……”
“Raising talent isn’t difficult.”
Ham Gyeong-seok remained silent.
“I’ll visit the filming set myself.”
Seonyeok picked up his coat and stood.
The friendly warmth he’d been putting on had vanished.
Only the cold face of a professional actor remained.
“If this truly is a discovery…”
“I’ll consider myself indebted to you.”
“Director Ham Gyeong-seok.”
♧
Fifteen percent of the commercial fee was deposited as an advance payment.
Since I didn’t have an agency or manager, the entire three million won went directly into my guardian’s bank account.
But that wasn’t the important part.
At the same time—
My status window updated!
【Contribution Asset Details】
- Cash
[Owner: Mother / Contribution: 95%]
₩30,000,000 - Commercial Contract Advance Payment
[Owner: Mother / Contribution: 100%]
₩3,000,000 - Real Estate
[Owner: Parents / Contribution: 100%]
₩60,000,000
“…!”
Not assets registered under my own name like my savings account or piggy bank.
This was a list of assets I had contributed to.
Exactly as the name suggested.
Foreign exchange profits.
Apartment lease deposits.
Everything I’d helped create was categorized according to contribution percentage.
But…
“What am I supposed to do with this…?”
None of this is under my name!
What kind of joke is this?
Was the system just trying to torment me?
Was it showing me assets I couldn’t touch just so I could start worrying now about future gift taxes?
The system… is trolling people?
For a brief moment, my respect for the system nearly evaporated.
But rash actions were dangerous.
The moment I clicked on [Contribution Asset Details], an explanation appeared.
And my eyes widened.
Assets owned by the challenger’s spouse or direct ascendants/descendants within one degree of kinship will be displayed if the challenger’s investment contribution exceeds 50%.
Upon fulfilling currently locked conditions, these assets may be reflected in the challenger’s total holdings through the [Family Aggregation] feature.
“W-What?!”
Family Aggregation?
You’re telling me I can count them without transferring ownership and paying gift tax?!
H-Hallelujah!
“What are the unlock conditions? Tell me! What are they?!”
The system’s generosity was so overwhelming I felt like crying tears of gratitude.
I desperately questioned the empty air.
No answer came.
“……”
Calm down.
I already had plenty of information.
Even if I didn’t know the unlock conditions yet, the fact that the system told me about them meant they would eventually appear.
When that time came, I’d just have to seize the opportunity.
And then…
Spouse?
I understood direct family members.
But spouses counted too?
That meant if I married someone rich and convinced them to invest using information only I knew, then as long as my contribution exceeded fifty percent…
Their assets could count as mine too.
…
A powerful desire to get married suddenly surged within me.
C-Calm down.
You’re eight years old.
After being dumped by Andrew, I’d sworn that marriage would never appear in Seo Singa’s life again.
No.
That was only a worst-case emergency scenario if I never found Bitcoin.
I needed to keep a clear head.
Right. Think of it as insurance.
Marriage was still better than becoming brain-dead.
Anyway…
Even in the endless desert that was my one-trillion-won goal, there was finally an oasis.
Thanks to the ray of hope called Family Aggregation, the burden weighing on my heart felt just a little lighter.
—Miss Singa? Miss Singa! Are you ready?
“Yes! Y-Yes! I’ll be right there!”
“Sweetie? Are you done yet? Everyone’s waiting. Just finish up and come out already!”
BANG BANG BANG
Mom knocked urgently on the door while trying to keep her voice down.
“……”
The weight returned to my chest.
That’s right.
April 14, 1998.
Today was the commercial shoot.
“I-I’m coming out…!”
The ultimate nightmare day for an INFP had finally arrived.
